Saeco 068?

[BST4227]

So I’m new and have been lurking off and on for a couple of years.

This brings me to my question that I hope someone can help answer, and hope I've asked it in the right place.

I have a 4 cavity mold that I was lead to believe is a SAECO 068, not sure where I got it now but think my brother may have got it at a yard/garage sale.

Anyway I got it cleaned up and casted a few boolits with it, they came out in the classic H&G 68 style, however they are weighing in at 228g, using WW, and as cast size is .454 and a tapered style of gas check and of course a little longer than a true 200g SWC.


After checking the boolits and seeing what I had I started looking at the mold a bit closer, nowhere on the mold itself is there a number or letter to help ID it, only on the sprue plate is there anything. On the plate it says SAECO in the SAECO boolit logo with 068 below that. There are no other markings on the mold or plate.


So does anyone know if SAECO made a heavy 068 with a gas check, or maybe this was a special order. If anyone has any thoughts as to what I may have please let me know. I’ve searched the site now for a couple of days and didn’t see anything about this, but it I missed something please point it out to me.


Bret

[bobthenailer]

I also have the Saeco 068 but in a 8 cavity, it drops boolets in the 205 gr weight @ .453 dia with WW alloy ( the 068 bevel base style), my mould is about 25 years old. a excellent boolet !

I have been using Saeco moulds for about 35 years and dont recall a boolet you are describing unless it was a non cataloged item.

On my older Saeco moulds they put the mould # on the sprue plate ! perhaps someone switched sprue plates ?

Lyman at one time made a 225 or 230 gr RN GC for the 45 acp but the Saeco sprue plate would not match up to Lyman 4 cavity blocks

[cbrick]

Welcome to CastBoolits BST,

Pictures of this mold would help a great deal. I have SAECO 068 in a 6 cavity, BB & they weigh in around 205 if I remember correctly. I do have SAECO molds that have never been in the catalog & were special order but from before Redding bought SAECO. Not sure if Redding has ever done custom so if yours is a SAECO custom it probably pre-dates Redding (a good thing in my opinion). I have another 45 cal mold that I'm about 98% sure is SAECO but there is not a a mark, stamp or anything else on it.

If yours is a custom SAECO I'm thinking someone got it for other than the 45 ACP given the gas check, weight & diameter. Anyway, pictures would be good.

Rick

[lotech]

I have a SAECO #069 double cavity mould that I purchased new more than twenty years ago. Though there are some minor differences, it's pretty much a copy of the original H&G #68 and seems to be the equivalent of the H&G in terms of accuracy. Cast from WW alloy, bullets nominally weigh 200 grains.

[BST4227]

I should have thought about pictures before hand. Thanks for the help


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[bobthenailer]

That is a Saeco # 068 mould , IMO if it was done by the factory it should have a different # or a different 068-2 or B ect
It must be factory R/D as i dont belive it would be easy to alter a stock 068 mould to this configuration! does a gas check actually fit and crimp on the base?
If it were a true 068 with a gas check the bullet should weigh a little less than 200gr because of the gas check cut and be close to 200gr with GC installed with # 2 alloy .

[captaint]

The .454 size isn't a big deal - however, that arrangement at the base of the boolit is puzzling. Sure looks like a gas check base to me. Why would anyone want a gas check for a 45ACP boolit ?? Anyway, with the weight being over 220 grains, I would consider having that business at the base of the boolit milled right off the mold and then you'll have a boolit that is closer to 200 grains AND an excellent one for the 45ACP. Just my .02 Mike PS - you could leave the bevel base if you like. No harm there.

[cbrick]

That is a pre-Redding mold. The gas check shank looks quite small, have you tried to put a 45 cal check on it? You didn't say what your planning to use this boolit in but if it's intended for the 45 ACP and it were mine I would take captaint's advice & have it milled down to a standard 068 BB (i.e. removing the GC shank). You have two choices to have this done properly unless your a machinist, then you have 3 choices. :mrgreen: Eric Ohlen at hollowpointmold.com (http://www.hollowpointmold.com) or Buckshot from the forum here. Either one and you can't go wrong, both are true craftsman.

Let us know what you decide. Curious mold.

Rick

[prs]

I do not think that is a gas check base at all. I don't know why it is that way, but it looks way undersized for a check. An then there is that bevel above it, why would that be there with a gas check? Maybe the mold operator had a hangover that morning. Work a load up for it and see what it does before reworking it to a real 68.

prs

[BST4227]

Thanks for all the help folks.

I was hoping to use it for 45ACP, and was hoping that if there isn't a good reason to not alter it to see if it can have the GC milled off.

I do not have any GC's in 45 so no I haven't been able to try to one to see if or how it fits

I did think it strange to have a gas check on a 45ACP but you never know what you may not know.

Thanks again for the help and the warm welcome

[BST4227]

I think I found my answer, I was looking for info no H&G molds and found the following web site http://www.hensleygibbs.com/casting/hgmoldchart.htm and I found that H&G made a few different weight 068 molds, so I'm guessing that SAECO did the same thing. The first photo is from the above site and the second is of my SAECO mold. Again thanks for the help in discovering the answer to this mystery. Now to decide what to do with thid mold.

122090

122091

[MtGun44]

GC for .45 ACP???? About as useful as teats on a boar hog.

Sizing to .452 shouldn't be a problem, maybe worth getting Eric to
clean up that base and make an honest mold out of it. Nearly ideal
for the .45 ACP, although yours is a hair heavy, not actually a problem
other than wasting about 15% more lead than needs to be used.

Bill

[rockrat]

Would make a good lightweight 45 Colt boolit. You could get some pretty good velocities out of it.